SYLVIIN^. 



45 



THE ORPHEAN WARBLER. 



Sylvia 6rphea, Temminck. 



According to the late Sir William M. E. Milner a female Orphean 

 Warbler was shot, and her mate observed, on July 6th, 1848, in a 

 small plantation near Wetherby, Yorkshire ; and from the state of 

 her plumage she was believed to have been incubating. Virtually, 

 however, the authority for this statement was Graham of York, a 

 bird-stufifer and purveyor of rarities ; but the bird is correctly named. 

 In June, 1866, as recorded by Mr. J. E. Harting, a young bird 

 unable to fly was caught near Holloway, in Middlesex, and having 

 been kept alive by Sergeant-major Hanley for nearly six months, 

 it was identified as an Orphean Warbler by the late Mr. E. Blyth. 

 Nests and eggs erroneously supposed to be those of this species 

 have been taken, but no other birds have as yet been identified. 



In France the Orphean Warbler breeds sparingly in the Brenne 

 district, beyond the Loire ; more frequently in Poitou ; and com- 

 monly in the south-eastern provinces. In Portugal and Spain it is 

 abundant wherever the olive grows, and also among woods of 

 conifers. It is local on the mainland of Italy, and very rare in the 

 islands ; visits Savoy in summer, and is said to pass annually up the 

 valley of the Rhone to the Vosges, the vicinity of Metz, and 

 Luxembourg. It has never been obtained, though said to have 

 been seen, in Heligoland, Belgium, or Normandy. Rare in Tyrol, 



